01Introduction
Melbourne has rock and roll bars, pub bandrooms and concert venues with punk and metal in their programmes. The useful distinction is the kind of evening you want: drinks with music, a local band in a pub, or a ticket for a touring act. This guide covers 21 current venues: rock bars first, then a separate section of concert venues and pub bandrooms. The former Crystal Ballroom has a short history section.
The bars are grouped by area, from the city centre and North Melbourne to Fitzroy, Collingwood, Abbotsford and Brunswick. Each entry gives the current address and an official website or programme. The named bills are examples checked on 28 September 2026, not a promise that the same style plays every night.
Choose the event as well as the venue
02City Centre and North Melbourne
Cherry and Heartbreaker are rock bars in the city centre. The Last Chance in North Melbourne programmes rock, punk and metal shows. Use the address as well as the venue name when planning your route.
Cherry Bar
Address: 68 Little Collins Street, Melbourne.
Cherry Bar is a rock bar at 68 Little Collins Street in the city centre.
The current venue link page gives Little Collins Street as its address and links directly to its ticket organiser. Use that page when planning a visit: older travel information still sends people to AC/DC Lane. Cherry is a useful starting point if the bar itself is part of your evening, but read the event description as well. Check whether a listing is for a band performance or a club event, and choose the night that matches your plans.
Official venue information · Official programme or event · Time Out’s rock-pub listing.
Heartbreaker
Address: 234A Russell Street, Melbourne VIC 3000.
Heartbreaker is a rock and roll bar serving drinks and pizza on Russell Street.
Its own site describes a bar with a pool table and pizza by the slice, and welcomes walk-ins. This is a bar-first choice for an evening centred on drinks and music. Do not plan it as a concert unless the venue advertises a particular performance. If you are comparing it with 170 Russell or Max Watt’s, decide first whether you want a band ticket or simply somewhere to spend time before or after another event.
The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar
Address: 238 Victoria Street, North Melbourne VIC 3051.
The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar programmes rock, punk and metal shows on Victoria Street.
Its current ticket calendar distinguishes front-bar events from other shows and includes a Sunday Metal Matinee. That makes the actual listing more useful than a general description of the pub: confirm which performance you are attending and whether it needs a ticket. The venue’s old standalone website did not work when checked, so the venue-branded ticket page is the practical programme link here. Its listings give the North Melbourne address shown above.
03Fitzroy, Collingwood, Abbotsford and Brunswick
The Old Bar, the Tote and Lulie Tavern are all on Johnston Street, but in different suburbs and at different numbers. The Bergy is on Sydney Road in Brunswick.
The Old Bar
Address: 74–76 Johnston Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065.
The Old Bar hosts alternative bands and heavier shows on Johnston Street in Fitzroy.
Its programme includes Morbid Mondays and a Mirror Clippers launch with Mousse Cannon, Tarcutta and Comatose. The accompanying band descriptions cover psych, doom, post-punk and experimental rock, giving more useful detail than a blanket rock-bar label. The calendar also contains DJs, comedy and other activities. Read the individual entry to distinguish a band show from another event, and use the full street number because several venues in this guide are on Johnston Street.
The Tote
Address: 71 Johnston Street, Collingwood VIC 3066.
The Tote presents rock, punk and metal across its front bar, upstairs room and bandroom.
The current ticket outlet names those rooms separately and includes Faceless Burial, Aardvark, Involucro and Primeval Butcher on 3 October 2026. Other listings include a Hardcore Australia event and smaller front-bar shows. Check the room on your ticket, especially when different events share a date. The official site is undergoing changes in places, but its contact information and venue ticket programme remain available. Use those links for the specific show rather than an old sale or closure story.
Official venue information · Official programme or event · Contact and visitor information.
Lulie Tavern
Address: 225 Johnston Street, Abbotsford VIC 3067.
Lulie Tavern describes itself as a rock and roll bar, with a gig guide and a rooftop bar.
The current contact page places it at 225 Johnston Street in Abbotsford. The homepage explicitly says it no longer takes bookings for Old Lulie at 288 Johnston Street, so use the current address when arranging to meet someone. The Full Moon Fever rooftop is part of the same venue offering and is not counted separately here. Lulie is a bar option as well as a place to look for live music; follow its gig guide for the current bill.
Official venue information · Current address.
The Bergy
Address: 64–68 Sydney Road, Brunswick VIC 3056.
The Bergy combines a dive bar and beer garden with the Bergy Bandroom.
The bandroom’s official genre list includes rock, punk and heavy metal, and its ticket outlet has an October 2026 bill with Astrodeath, GIANT, Ghostsmoker and Double-Barrel Megadoob. The general site gives the whole premises as 64–68 Sydney Road; bandroom tickets use number 68. These describe one venue complex, so they are counted together. Use the bandroom listing to choose a gig, or the main venue page when planning drinks and food.
Official venue information · Official programme or event · Contact and visitor information · Bandroom information.
04Concert Venues: Pub Bandrooms and Halls
These places host rock gigs but are not rock bars. Most are pub bandrooms or concert halls with mixed programmes, so check each venue's listings for a rock show before going.
The Curtin
Address: 29 Lygon Street, Carlton VIC 3053.
The Curtin is a Carlton pub with a bandroom whose programme covers several styles. The checked listings included a Black Market Clash show, Kilat and Screamfeeder. Use the John Curtin Hotel address on Lygon Street: the similarly named Curtin House is a different place.
Official venue information · Contact and visitor information.
Max Watt’s
Address: 125 Swanston Street, Melbourne.
Max Watt’s is a ticketed concert venue on Swanston Street. Its programme has included metal and hard rock bills, such as Flotsam and Jetsam with Mortal Sin on 2 October 2026.
Official venue information · Official programme or event · Contact and visitor information.
170 Russell
Address: 170 Russell Street, Melbourne VIC 3000.
170 Russell is a city-centre concert and club venue. Its calendar has included heavy bands such as August Burns Red (1 October 2026) next to other styles, so choose the event first.
Official venue information · Contact and visitor information.
The Workers Club
Address: 51 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065.
The Workers Club is a Fitzroy pub with a bandroom for local and touring acts. Its ticket page has included a Rock Night with No Apollogies and Hard & Homegrown with Rose Carleo Band, alongside comedy and other styles. The venue describes ramped entry from Gertrude Street and a bandroom on one level.
Official venue information · Official programme or event.
Smith St Hotel
Address: 484 Smith Street, Collingwood VIC 3066.
Smith St Hotel is the current name at the former Gasometer site, with a mixed live-music and club programme. Its calendar has included First Day Back, described by the venue as part of the emo revival, and a Hardcore Halloween Party alongside electronic events.
Official venue information · Full gig calendar.
Brunswick Ballroom
Address: 314–316 Sydney Road, Brunswick.
Brunswick Ballroom is a ticketed live-music venue with a mixed programme. Its listings have included the Masters Apprentices on 4 October 2026, alongside Ella Hooper and performers from other styles. Read the ticket categories: general admission and reserved seating are sold separately.
Official venue information · Contact and visitor information.
Northcote Social Club
Address: 301 High Street, Northcote VIC 3070.
Northcote Social Club is a pub bandroom for touring artists. An official ticket listing advertises Hugh Cornwell for 12 December 2026 and labels the show punk, rock and alternative.
Official venue information · Official programme or event.
Cafe Gummo
Address: 711 High Street, Thornbury.
Cafe Gummo identifies itself as queer and antifascist, and its music policy names local punk bands and experimental noise. Drag and other music share the programme. Its gig page links to individual tickets and weekly Instagram updates.
Official programme or event · Contact and visitor information.
Shotkickers
Address: 744 High Street, Thornbury VIC 3071.
Shotkickers has a bandroom for local and touring bands. Its ticket calendar has included Chris Masuak’s Dog Soldier, Robot God and Rocket Science, alongside soul, brass and other shows. The venue describes a ramp at the entrance, an accessible bathroom and booth seating in the bandroom.
Official programme or event · Contact and visitor information.
The Croxton Bandroom
Address: 607 High Street, Thornbury VIC 3071.
The Croxton Bandroom is a concert venue; its own information says the front bar opens on gig nights. Its 2026 Croxton Block Party, with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Shonen Knife, used the carpark as a festival space.
Official venue information · Bandroom and front bar.
Corner Hotel
Address: 57 Swan Street, Richmond VIC 3121.
Corner Hotel is a Richmond pub with a concert bandroom. Its programme has included a Pisco Sour launch listed as metal and hard rock. The venue’s FAQ says most bandroom shows are standing, and its visitor information gives wheelchair access from Botherambo Street.
Official venue information · Contact and visitor information.
The Leadbeater Hotel
Address: 1 Church Street, Richmond VIC 3121.
The Leadbeater Hotel has a ticketed bandroom behind the pub. Its programme has included heavy bills such as HEAVENSGATE, Half Me and Harlott, among other entertainment and private bookings.
Official venue information · Official programme or event.
Hotel Esplanade (The Espy)
Address: 11 The Esplanade, St Kilda VIC 3182.
The Espy hosts live music in the Gershwin Room and Basement. Its music page describes a programme from grunge to other styles, with emerging bands, open-mic nights, blues and DJs. Check the room and performer in the current listing.
Official programme or event · Contact and visitor information.
Prince Bandroom
Address: 29 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda VIC 3182.
Prince Bandroom hosts concerts and club nights in the Prince complex. Its ticket outlet has listed Guttermouth, Ghosts of Grunge and a double bill of Enuff Z’Nuff and Pretty Boy Floyd, alongside dance and other events. The ticket outlet gives 29 Fitzroy Street for the bandroom; the hotel’s general address is 2 Acland Street.
05History: The Former Crystal Ballroom
Historical venue, not a current gig destination
Crystal Ballroom
Historical address: 125–129 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda.
The Crystal Ballroom was a punk and alternative music venue inside the Seaview Hotel, now known as the George.
State Library Victoria documents how the Seaview’s ballroom became a base for punk and alternative music. The St Kilda Historical Society gives the hotel address as 125–129 Fitzroy Street and records its closure in 1987, followed by later redevelopment. This entry describes that former music venue, not a current rock club or a claim that the building is empty. Its history helps explain St Kilda’s place in the scene, but it should not be added to a present-day gig itinerary.
06Practical Notes
Tickets, tables and rooms
Read what your booking covers. The Workers Club separates pub bookings from its bandroom programme, while the Tote’s ticket outlet identifies front-bar, upstairs and bandroom events. Brunswick Ballroom’s Masters Apprentices listing distinguishes general admission from reserved seating and says general admission seating is not guaranteed. These details apply to the named venues and shows; they are not a city-wide admission rule.
Workers Club bookings · Tote programme · Ballroom ticket categories.
Access information
The Workers Club describes ramped entry from Gertrude Street and a front bar and bandroom on one level. Shotkickers describes an entrance ramp, accessible bathroom and booth seating, and asks visitors to contact it about reserving a booth. Corner Hotel publishes access information for its bandroom and rooftop, including entry from Botherambo Street and a lift. Use those venue pages to explain any specific access or seating needs before booking.
Workers Club access · Shotkickers access · Corner Hotel visitor FAQs.
Planning the journey
Use the street address in the entry and the Transport Victoria journey planner to plan travel for your date. Pay particular attention to Prince Bandroom’s Fitzroy Street address, Cherry’s Little Collins Street address and Lulie’s current Johnston Street number. Check the return journey as part of the same plan; this guide does not assume a finishing time for a concert or publish fixed transport timetables.
07Frequently Asked Questions
Which Melbourne venues should I check for rock or metal?
For a rock and roll bar, start with Cherry, Heartbreaker or Lulie. For live heavy music, compare the current listings at Last Chance, the Tote, the Bergy, Max Watt’s and the Leadbeater. Cafe Gummo explicitly includes punk and experimental noise in its programme. These are starting points based on the venue descriptions and linked bills above; choose the actual event before travelling.
Is the Gasometer still listed?
The address at 484 Smith Street is included under its current name, Smith St Hotel. Its own site refers to the former Gaso and publishes the present programme. It is counted once, rather than as two venues under different names.
Is Cherry Bar still in AC/DC Lane?
The current official Cherry link page gives 68 Little Collins Street. Use that address for this listing. Older travel pages still contain the AC/DC Lane address, which is why checking the venue’s current information matters.
Do all these places have rock bands every night?
No. Heartbreaker is presented as a rock and roll bar, while venues such as 170 Russell, Brunswick Ballroom, the Espy and Prince Bandroom have mixed programmes, which is why they are listed separately as concert venues. Check the event, room and admission conditions using the official links.
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